City Clerk

City Clerk:
Email:
Location:

Telephone:
Fax:

Office Hours:

Lisa K. Hathaway
lhathaway@gpwmi.us
20025 Mack Plaza
Grosse Pointe Woods, MI 48236

(313) 343-2440
(313) 343-5667

8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.,
Monday-Friday*

The City Clerk´s office is the front line point of contact for the public. Serves as Clerk to the City Council and custodian of the Corporate Seal; to certify official documents and provide custody of official City documents. Maintains orderly and accessible records of all City activities and transactions including posting all public meeting notifications. Conducts all bid openings for the City. Administers City elections, Business Licenses and publishes City advertisements. Exercises other powers and duties as provided by law.

From a citizen’s standpoint, the first impression of local government is a visit to the City Clerk’s office. The City Clerk’s office is responsible for the protective custody of all public records of the municipality. The City Clerk is appointed by the City Council.

The City Clerk’s office is responsible for:

• Voter registrations and verifications of nominating petitions for local offices or questions
• Administering all elections for the city, state or federal government and school boards as needed, and serving as Chair of the Election Commission; training and supervising election inspectors; processing absentee voter ballots
• Preparing meeting agendas and background information for Council and subcommittees of Council; posting agendas in accordance with the Michigan Open Meetings Act
• Recording and preserving the official minutes of the City Council and various boards and commissions
• Filing and safeguarding census information, contracts and other legal documents; repository of all official city records such as ordinances, resolutions, municipal policy and procedures; custodian of city seal
• Notifying the public and publishing of public hearing and Zoning Board of Appeals notices, and bid notices and acceptance
• Codification of the City Code
• Receive and process Freedom of Information requests
• GPW Business Owner’s Handbook
• New resident information
• Processing all licenses required by city ordinances, such as: Commercial amusement device/arcades, parades/fun runs, business licenses, restaurants, snow removal, solicitors, commercial valet parking, tree trimming and removal, vendor/peddlers, charitable solicitations, outdoor cafes

Voting Information

In order to vote, you must be:

• A U.S. citizen
• 18 years of age
• A resident of the State of Michigan
• Registered to vote

How to register

Register to vote for federal, state, local and school board elections with your county clerk, any city clerk or at any Secretary of State branch office. You must register at least 30 days before the election. Whenever you move to a new city or township, you must register to vote. If you move within a city, you must update your address with your local clerk, at your polling place on Election Day or at a Secretary of State branch office. If you have registered to vote in another state, you may not register to vote in Michigan until residency is re-established.

You also may register to vote by mail with your local clerk. Contact your city clerk or the clerk of the city where you last lived in Michigan to receive the necessary forms. If you submit a voter registration by mail, it must be postmarked on or before the close of registration. If the postmark is missing or unclear, the application meets the “close of registration” standard if the city clerk receives it within seven calendar days after the close of registration AND the voter dated the form on or before the close of registration.

You may also register to vote by mail if you are eligible to renew your driver’s license by mail with the Secretary of State’s office. All eligible drivers receive a voter registration application in the mail with their driver license renewal information.

Absentee voting

You may vote by absentee ballot if you are a registered voter who cannot go to the polls because you are unable to vote without assistance, 60 years of age or older, absent from the city on Election Day, in jail awaiting arraignment or trial, working as a precinct inspector in a precinct other than where registered, or unable to go to the polls because of religious beliefs. You may apply for an absentee ballot either in person or by mail to the clerk of the city as early as 75 days before, and up to 2 p.m. of the Saturday preceding the election. The ballot must be returned to the clerk in sufficient time so that it can be counted by the absent voter counting board by 8 p.m. on Election Day.